Emergency feeder device for submarines



Dec. 2, 1930. M. CLARK 1,783,221

EMERGENCY FEEDER DEVICE FOR SUBHARINES Original Filed Feb. 25, 1928 Patented Dec. 2, 1930 1 7 3 221 Uni ran STATES PATENT OFFICE Application filed February 25 1928, Serial No. 256,969. Renewed August 23, 31930.

The device, the subject of this invention, is of the submarine, or in the location of any a means for injecting or introducing emerof its necessary parts, or devices, I will refer gency supplies or air, or food, or any other to the submarine as a whole, with the referrequirement into a submarine when the subence character 1, indicating the deck thereof,

5 marine is submerged, and particularly at a at 2, and the sponsons orbuoyancy tanks, with 55 time when through accident or otherwise,the a reference character 3. submarine is out of control, or has foun- Arranged upon the'deck, and at any con dered. venient point, are a plurality of housings, or

An object of the invention is to provide caps. InFig. 1, these caps, of which five are 10 means for introducing supplies or air into shown, are extremely exaggerated. Their 69 any one of the compartments of the submaproportion, would of course, not be as great rine, or into any one ofa number of the comas indicated, but the size of these housings partments. may be varied at will, and to meet the require- 7 Another object of the invention is to proments. Y vide a device of thisnature, so constructed In Fig. 1, I have shown five such housings, and arranged thatit will not interfere with indicating with the reference characters 4, 5, the ordinary operation of the submarine, nor 6, 7, and 8, and it should be understood that to a great extent, with the free deckspace any number of such housings may be sup thereof. 1 plied, and that they may be arranged in the Another object of the invention is to promost suitable and convenient place. In Fig. vide a device that will be safe, and to that 2, I show one of the housings, together with end, I provide means whereby the device the mechanism which it encloses, selecting the cannot be wholly closed until parts thereof housing 5 for this exposition.

are closed, and another object of the inven- It will be noted-that this housing 5 is pro- W tion is to provide a device that will be simple vided with a hinge 6, and a wing nut or other and easy to operate, and yet entirely eiiicient, suitable securing means, as shown at 5. It

and one that will not admit to the submarine, will be noted that the housing is also proa great amount of water when the connection vided with a plurality of perforations, as

is being made from the outside, even when shown at 9, 10 and 11. These perforations 53 the submarine is submerged. indicate that the housing need not be water- With these objects in View, the following proof, andI- prefer that it should not be is what I consider the best means of carrywaterproof, as to make it so, would make it ing out my invention, and the accompanying difficult to operate from the exterior when drawing should be referred to for a complete the submarine is submerged. The perforaunderstanding of the specification which foltions 8 to 11, are therefore for the purpose lows. of closing the pressure on both sides of-the In the drawing housing. 7 Fig. 1, shows a side elevation of a sub- Arranged within the housing, is a gate marine. valve, as shown at 12, with asuitable operat- 40 Fig. 2, shows a greatly enlarged view in ing wheel 13. I have previously stated that w elevation, partly in section of my device. anobject of the invention is to provide means Fig. 3, is a further enlarged view of a part whereby the device cannot be closed until all of the device, and of its parts are closed. If the gate valve 12 Fig. 4, is a top plan view of the device is open, the wheel will project to a point sug- M shown in Fig. 3. gested by the dotted line 1%, or. to a point Similar reference numerals indicate like somewhere between its present full line posiparts in all the figures where they appear. tion, and the dotted line position. While in In Fig. 1, I show in the merest outline, a any one of thesepositions, the housing 5 r0 submarine of a common type, and as no macannot be closed, it cannot actually be closed ma terial change is to be made in the construction ,until the valve 12 is closed.

Secured to the valve 12, and projecting upward therefrom, is a screw threaded nipple 15, by means of which an air pipe or other tube may be connected to the valve 12.

Connected to the valve 12, is a pipe 16 which extends into the submarine, and into a compartment thereof. The inner end of this pipe is also provided with a valve, as shown at 17, which may be in all respects, similar to the valve 12. I prefer that both of these valves should be gate valves, although any type of straight full opening valve may be employed.

Arranged under the valve 17 I may provide a basket 18 for a purpose that shall appear later. A

I appreciate that ,if a submarine is submerged to any great depth, considerable pressure will be exerted upon the disk of the valve 12, and it may be found difficult to open this valve. I therefore provide a short pipe 19, and a pet-cock 20, by means of which water may be admitted to the pipe 16, and the pressure in the pipe, equalized with the pressure exterior to the valve 12.

In the operation of my device, I provide a plurality of cylinders, such as that shown at 21, in Fig. 3. These cylinders should be of metal, and are provided with a closure cap 22. The seat 23 between the cap and cylinder, should be a ground seat, as gaskets are apt to become jammed or cemented tight by oxidization, and it is my intention that the cylinders 21 should be opened easily.

To introduce supplies intothe submarine, loaded cylinders are provided, and a diver opening the housing 5, may open the pet-cock 20 to equalize the pressure on both sides of the valve 12, and may then open the valve 12 water wheel, of course entering the tube 16, but the introduction of the cylinder 21, will displace much of the water from the tube 16. Thereupon the valve 12 and the pet-cock 20 .are closed, and a signal given to the interior of the submarine, and thereupon those within the submarine, may open the pet-cock 24L to equalize the pressure on both sides of the valve 17. The cylinders 21 in the pipe 16, will thereupon drop into the basket 18, to be removed therefrom, as and when required.

It is my desire that this device should not be so large as to prove annoying, or as to take up space which might be otherwise utilized, and as I fully appreciate the crowded condition of the interior of the submarine, I have planned that the pipe 16 may be as small as two inches in diameter, and with this size, the valves and the housing and all parts of my device will be so small as to be almost inconspicuous, but will be ready in use when emergency requires.

It will of course be understood that pipes such as 16, with its accompanying valves, may be introduced at any point, and if not convenient to arrange the housings on deck, they may be arranged on the sponsons or ballast tanks. The only change that would be required, would be to increase the length of the pipe 16. This mi ht be an advantage, as it would make it possible to employ longer cylinders. While the housings, such as 5, may be omitted, I prefer that they be employed for the reason that they will prevent the valves, such as 12, being torn away, and will also flush up deck space, or sides, and will also prevent the possibility of a valve 12 being opened accidentally or inadvertently when the submarine is in ordinary operation, or being left open after the device has been submitted to its usual test or inspection.

I also prefer that the cylinders 21 shall be of the maximum possible length so that the amount of water introduced into the submarine with each operation of my device, will be minimized to the greatest possible degree.

Having carefully and fully described my invention, What I claim and desire to secure by Letters Patent is 1. An emergency feeder device for submarines comprising an enlarged tubular member extending through the skin of a submarine, a plurality of valves, one at each end of said tubular member and means for equal izing the pressure at each side of each said valve prior to the opening thereof.

2. An emergency feeder device for submarines comprising a pipe extendingthrongh the wall of said submarine, a valve interior and exterior of said submarine, and a housing for the exterior valve, the stem of said valve extending into the path of said housing and adapted to prevent the closing of the housing while said valve is open.

3. An emergency feeder device for submarines comprising a pipe entering through the wall of said submarine, a valve at each end of said pipe and adapted to a full opcn ing, and a container adapted to be introduced into said pipe through one of said valves, said container being of a length approximately equal to the distance between the closure disks of both said valves.

JOHN M. CLARK. 

